The Editor:
I am writing to complain about jet noise since NavCan changed flight paths to fly directly over Coquitlam.
This is not just gliding in for a landing, they are under power both incoming and outgoing at all hours of day and night.
Many days have less than 80 seconds of silence between. They noise overpowers commotion in a mall parking lot, never mind trying to sit around the BBQ.
In 1996, the federal government sold the air traffic portion of Transport Canada to a privately held company called NavCan.
NavCan works to further goals of airline corporations by changing flight paths in order to increase margins under the guise of "safety" and "reducing emissions."
Reducing emissions is an oxymoron. To reduce emissions, reduce (not increase) the number of flights.
Why do I pay exorbitant carbon taxes here in B.C. when just one flight produces more emissions than I would in a lifetime?
"Safety" sounds good. I submit it is safer to stack flights up over the Pacific Ocean than Mundy Park.
These flights are going to increase once the final decision is made to keep Coquitlam a flyway.
NavCan states they have had very few noise complaints. I believe this is because people think it is just a temporary thing and we will return to normal soon.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
If the noise and pollution bother you, I urge you to contact [email protected] and lodge a complaint.
One could also go to their office and play cell phone recordings in the waiting room.
NavCan decisions are made by people in Trenton, Ont. They have no concept of echo off mountains in Burrard Inlet, nor the fact that much of Coquitlam is much closer to the sky.
There is still time to contact local elected officials and NavCan directly. The final decision to make next summer much worse than this summer has not been made yet.
YVR is touted as an important economic driver for us, yet all I get out of it is nothing.
I literally do not care if someone going to a far-off beach has to pay a little more or sit on a plane a little longer.
Other than movement of goods and looking pretty, YVR for the most part is not an industry that adds value to goods, which is the true driver of a successful economy.
- Ken Holowanky, Coquitlam
